Rutte

Rutte was in Washington on Thursday for meetings with senior US officials, two months before he’s due to chair a summit of US President Donald Trump and his NATO counterparts in the Netherlands.

“A stronger NATO will benefit Japan greatly,” Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said at a press conference with Rutte, who was visiting Japan for the first time since becoming secretary general of the alliance in October.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha says more pressure must be exerted on Russia to agree to a peace deal as he meets NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte

If anyone were to make a miscalculation, thinking that they would be able to attack Poland without consequences or attack any other ally, our Alliance would respond forcefully,” the NATO Secretary General stressed in Warsaw.

US President Donald Trump has welcomed NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to Washington amid concerns over his pivot towards Russia. The pair discussed Greenland, with Trump again advocating US annexation for security reasons.

Investors are watching closely as European leaders hold an emergency meeting on regional security.

NATO chief Mark Rutte supported Trump’s push for higher defence budgets and warned that a Russian victory in Ukraine would damage NATO’s credibility and increase costs.

The 32 NATO allies will likely decide to increase the defence spending benchmark from the current 2% of GDP during a summit in The Hague in June.